Hydraulic press



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

C. 7. FLIPIEN, OF LAUREL GROVE, VIRGINIA.

HYDRAULIC PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,167', dated May 8, 1860.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, C. IV. FLIPPEN, of Laurel Grove, in the county of Pittsylvania and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hydraulic Presses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a vertical central section through the machine, the tobacco being in a pressed condition. Fig. 2, a similar section, the retainer being ready for the reception of tobacco.

Similar letters of reference, in each of the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

The nature of my invention consists, lst, in combining the piston of a hydraulic or tobacco press, with a disk, the bore of which is of the same diameter as the piston, and with a cylinder, the hollow space of which is of a larger' diameter than the piston.

To enable others, skilled in the art, to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The cylinders of hydraulic presses used for pressing tobacco, are very heavy and unwieldly, and on account of their size and Weight (which latter amounts to several tons) the borings of these cylinders is attended with many' diliculties and is consequently very expensive. By making the inner diameter of the cylinder head d, and cylinder a, of the hydraulic press, used in combination with my tobacco press, of a larger diameter than the piston e, and inserting and packing a disk c, underneath the cylinder head (Z, the bore of which lits the piston e, the necessity for boring the cylinder and cylinder-head is obviated and the disk c, alone has got to be bored. The piston plays up and down through the disk c, and the packing z', z', on top and bottom of the disk, and the water cannot escape from the cylinder any more than if the piston would tit the bore of the cylinder itself. In this manner, the cylinder and cylinder-head can be used in the state they are in when cast without the additional labor and eX- pense of boring.

The cylinder is cast with a cylindrical recess e, in its top, which receives the disk c', and packing z', i. The cylindrical flange y, of thev cylinder head lits loosely into the recess e, and serves to confine the packing z', z',

and disk c, while the cylinder head is screwed onto the top of the cylinder a, by means of strong bolts a2.

The pipe 7), at the bottom of the cylinder a, leads to the hydraulic pump.

The nature of my invention consists, 2nd,

in an improvement in retainers of tobacco presses, viz. combining one of the retainer bolts with a lever and swivel joint on top of said bolt, for the purpose of keeping-the top retainer plate suspended, or raising it when necessary.

The press frame consists of a top plate p, and a bottom plate 0, upon which latter the hydraulic press cylinder a, is placed, the two plates being connected by vertical columns Z. The press platform has a semiglobular projection in the center of its under-surface, fitting into a corresponding cavity in the top of the piston e, thus forming a ball joint j, so that there will be no strain whatever on the piston moving up and down in a vertical line, although the platform may not always be exactly hori Zontal.

The retainer consists of two plates o", q, between which the tobacco, (represented by blue lines in Fig. l) is placed. Two vertical bolts s, s, are fastened to the bottom plate r, of the retainer, and their screw threaded upper ends pass through smooth holes in the top-plate g. Nuts t, screw on the bolts s, above the top plate g.

The bottom plate r, is provided with wheels n, which run on rails m, on the press platform la.

A lever o, is connected with the upper end of one of the retainer bolts s, by a kind of a swivel joint, the lever resting in a fork u, the socket of which turns freely in a hole in the upper end of the retainer bolts. Thus the lever and fork can be turned to the right or left, and the lever can be worked up or down, the fork serving as its fulcrum.

The operation of the machine, is as follows: The retainer with the tobacco piled up between the two retainer plates g, r, and the nuts t, at the upper ends of the bolts s, (as represented by black lines in Fig. l) is placed upon the rails of the press platform la', while the platform 7:, and piston e, are in the position represented by red lines in Fig. 1. The lever o, is turned sidewise as represented in Fig. 1, so as to be out of the way. The hydraulic press is then worked so as to raise the press piston and press platform 7c,

and also the lower retainer plate r, and press the tobacco between the latter and the top retainer plate g, which rests against the top plate p, of the press frame. While the pressing operation proceeds, the bolts s, pass up through the holes in the top retainer plate q.

When the tobacco has been sufficiently pressed, the nuts t, are screwed down (as indicated by red lines in F ig. l) so as 'to keep the retainer plates together and the tobacco in a pressed condition, while the press piston, press platform and retainer are made to descend to their original position. The retainer is then run out on the railsm, as represented at t, g, s, r', in Fig. 1. The nuts t, are then screwed up to the top of the bolts s, the lever 0, is turned around and its inner end inserted in hook w, attached to the center of the top retainer plate g, (all as represented in Fig.V 2) and the` plate is lifted up by depressing the outer end o lever lv, and kept in this position until the pressed tobacco has been removed and a new pile of tobacco placed upon retainer plate r; The outer end of lever lv, is then raised so as to Vallow the upper retainer plate to descend until it rests on top of the pile of t-obacco, when the retainer is run back upon the rails of the press platform and the pressing operation repeated7 as above described. t.

The employment of the lever v, is of great advantage because the upper retainer late can at once be lifted from the presse tobacco or be dropped'on the new pile of tobacco as heretofore set forth, without the labor and loss of time consequent upon the use of two nuts for each retainer bolt, one

nut t, above and another one below the upper retainer plate. Such a nut below the plate Q, must be screwed up after the tobacco has been pressed and the retainer been run out, in order to raise the plate g, and keep it in a raised position until the new pile of tobacco has been inserted. The nut must there be screwed down in` order to allow the plate 0, to descend until it comes to rest on rthe pile of tobacco. As the heavy plate g, rests upon such a nut while being screwed down, this cannot be done except by using awrench, an operation which causes a con-V siderable loss of time and labor.

By dispensing with the use of nut-s below the upper .retainer plate g, and employing a swivel jointed lever v, as above described, the plate g, can be dropped in an instant.

What I claim as my invention and desire to VVsecure by Letters Patent is- 1. Combining the piston of ahydraulic or tobacco press, with a disk the bore of which is of the same diameter as the piston and with a cylinder, the hollow space of which is of a larger diameter than the piston, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In the retainers of tobacco presses, combining one of the retainer bolts with a lever and swivel joint on top of said bolt,

for the purpose of keeping the top retainer plate suspended, or raising it when necessary, substantially as set forth.

CHARLES W. FLIPPEN. Witnesses:

JAMES H. BALLow, HENRY I. BARNES. 

